Robert Peterson

Olga Kostetskaya
Valentin Krasovskiy
Marcus Hendrickson
CTEC 205
November 28 2016
Collaboration 4
9-9. Summarize the ways that third-party cookies are created and processed. Even though
cookies are not supposed to contain personally identifying data, explain how such data can
readily be obtained.
Before explaining how third-party cookies are created and processed, what a third party
cookie is, needs to be defined. According to PC Magazine, a third-party cookie is A small
amount of text stored in the user's computer that is created by a website with a domain name
other than the one the user is currently visiting. In other words, when website A is visited, a
third-party website B, places text onto your computer, and any clicks made on website A is sent
to website B in the form of data. There are different cookies for different purposes, but mainly
they monitor the user and collect information for future use. Your browser also requests cookies
from the website that you visit in order for the website to configure its appearance for returning
users. The website Pentracker describes a cookie's purpose as, The cookie is placed there for the
purpose of recognising your specific browser / computer combination, were you to return to the
same site. For example, if you frequently use a certain website to check the weather, if cookies
are disabled, you will have to input where you are located instead of cookies having memorized
your location and instantly gave you the weather in your geographical region.
The Microsoft website explains what kind of personal data is collected and the limitations
in collecting it Personally identifiable information is information that can be used to identify or
contact you, such as your name, e-mail address, home or work address, or telephone number.
However, a Web site only has access to the personally identifiable information that you provide.
For example, a Web site cannot determine your e-mail name unless you provide it. Also, a Web
site cannot gain access to other information on your computer.
9-10. Numerous browser features, add-ins, and other tools exist for blocking third-party
cookies. Search the Web for block third-party cookies for xxx, and fill in the xxx with the
name and version of your browser. Read the instructions, and summarize the procedure
that you need to take to view the cookies issued from a given site.
In order to remove cookies from a Macintosh computer running a version 8.0 on Safari.
1. Drag cursor into the far left corner of the screen. Click on Safari.

2. Click on Preferences

3. With the next screen, you can choose the settings you want for your cookies.

4. To see which third party has left a cookie on your IP address, click on Details.

5. The next screen are the third-party sites that have placed cookies, available to you. To delete
them all, click Remove All.

The procedure to view and remove cookies on Chrome Browser

1. Open Google Chrome.

2. Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.

3. SelectSettings from the menu.

4. Click "Show advanced settings".

5. In the "Privacy" section, click the Content settings button.

6. Click the "All Cookies and Site Data" button.

You can now view the cookies of your Browser.

9-11. In large measure, ads pay for the free use of Web content and even Web sites
themselves. If, because of a fear of privacy, many people block third-party cookies,
substantial ad revenue will be lost. Discuss with your group how such a movement would
affect the valuation of Facebook and other ad-revenue-dependent companies. Discuss how

it would affect the delivery of free online content such as that supplied by Forbes and other
providers.
Companies that lose revenue from their ads will have to resort to other means of earning
revenue. Our group has decided on two main ways revenue can be earned.
1. The first way a company can earn revenue is to sell the information the company
gathers about the consumers to sell to other 3rd party companies. This method of making
revenue has its drawbacks though. The major drawback is that when a company that is
based off of personal information that if had previously promised not to share, starts
sharing, then customers are inclined to leave. The other issue with this is that some adrevenue-dependent companies do not obtain enough valuable relevant information about
consumers. This issue of non relevant information would be the case with Forbes which
users only read. Unlike companies like Facebook, users do not enter personal pattern
revealing information into Forbes.
2. The next choice would be an option for any company, but is probably best suited
for non social media companies like Forbes. The company could create a subscription or
pay-to-use service. This way the company would be able to circumvent the ad revenue
entirely, taking in revenue from the consumer themselves. In the meantime the company
could also market their product as more premiere and exclusive.

9-12. Many companies have conflict of interest with regard to third-party cookies. On the
other hand, such cookies help generate revenue and pay for Internet content. On the other
hand, trespassing on users privacy could turn to be a PR disaster. As you learned in your
answer to question 9-10, browsers include options to block third-party cookies. However, in
most cases those options are turned off in the default browser installation. Discuss why that
might be so. If sites were required to obtain your permission before installing third-party
cookies, how would you determine whether to grant it? List criteria that your team thinks
you should use. Asses the effectiveness of such a policy.
Why browsers have third party cookies enabled by default is not a simple answer. The
companies that own and operate web browsers also gain substantial revenue from their
advertisements (Why Aren't Third-Party Cookies Disabled By Default?). Some companies that
gain from 3rd party cookies would be Google and Microsoft. It is also in the best interest for a lot
of smaller companies that make a majority of their revenue from advertisements. Widgets that
work across websites need third party cookies to work, such as comments on your website that
are appearing on your Facebook.
If a website were to have to obtain permission to install cookies, ways to determine to allow or
not allow them to be installed would be:

- Validity of website (Is it a reputable business or a trusted company?)

- Level of security (What are you doing and is it a secure task?)
- Do you want to? (A personal cost-benefit)
- What is the cookie for?
This would be very effective in that it covers security of the company, if the company is known
as trusted or not, what is the purpose of the cookie, and lastly as a personal preference if you
want a cookie from this website.

9-13. The processing of third-party cookies is hidden; we dont know what is being done
behind the scenes with the data about our own behavior. Because there is so much of it and
so many parties involved, the possibilities are difficult to comprehend, even if the
descriptions were available. And if your privacy is compromised by the interaction of seven
different companies working independently, which is to be held accountable? Summarize
consequences of these facts on consumers.
The first and most alarming concern of this implication is that if a company does use the
data they gather about you improperly or maliciously then the user is unable to track down who
is responsible. The consumer also has a more difficult time placing blame on an unethical
company. This incentivises companies to act in an unethical manner as the risk of being
responsible for their actions is reduced. An example of this would be a child who is using the
internet. It would be unethical to watch the patterns of a child without any consent, but it also
poses other issues. Children are also not as educated on the threats that are present on the
internet, thus leading to cookies spamming advertisements asking for personal information that
the child would willingly enter. This puts the child at greater risk than an adult user on the
internet. When there is no one to hold responsible for such a mistake, its difficult to stop these
activities from happening, even if there are laws and rules in place. These rules cannot be
enforced if there is no one to enforce them on, that is why in order to protect your privacy, you
have to do it yourself through secure passwords, firewalls, and malware protection. With
companies having the potential opportunity to disclose our private internet information, it
consequently puts the consumer on edge whenever they use the internet.

9-14. Summarize the benefits of third-party cookies to consumers.

Third party cookies have multiple benefits to consumers:
- One of the most beneficial aspects of third party cookies is they are a great asset
to marketing research. There is a reason why products are marketed better to you now
compared to how they were in the past. Its because due to Big Data processing and all

the data collected from these cookies, information is being created to better understand
your buying habits (Thompson).
- Some third party cookies actually track what ads you have seen already. So if a
company advertises one advertisement to you on one website, and they have ad space on
another, they can market a different product for you. In some cases this will prevent the
same pop-up from reoccurring over and over again. This is a benefit in that the ads are
now something that might interest the viewer, instead of being an annoyance distracting
them from the website they are visiting.
- Third party cookies become a great asset for consumers who do their shopping
online. By leaving behind a browsing history of shopping for specific products, those
products and similar ones might show up on a different website as an advertisement. This
can work in the consumers favor because they may have missed a product that the third
party cookie actually recommended them and it turns out that item was what they were
looking for. Third party cookies can also recommend products on sale and provide the
consumer a great deal that they might otherwise not have known about.
- There are some cases where your browser needs to accept third party cookies for
the website to work properly. This is beneficial for the viewer because its aesthetically
pleasing and he or she gets the full benefits the site has to offer.
- Tracking the movements a viewer makes on the site, makes it easier for the
website to please you in the future by seeing what you like and dont like, and changing
the ads based on the trends the cookie picked up. By doing this, they appeal to you as an
individual instead of a mass audience.
- Another benefit of cookies as stated by the website Internet Marketing Inc is
conveniency. They say, Most online shopping websites nowadays allow cookies for
address and email information but make you fill out your credit card information each
time. Which is great for users who frequently online shop, reducing time by not having
to put in your information every time.
agreed
9-15. Given all you have learned about third-party cookies, what does your team think
should be done about them? Possible answers are: a) nothing; b) require Web sites to ask
uses before installing third-party cookies; c) require browsers to block third-party cookies
by default, but enable them at the user's option; e) something else. Discuss these
alternatives among your team and recommend one. Justify your recommendation.
We believe that websites should be required to ask you whether you would like third party
cookies installed on your computer. This solution would allow all third party cookies to be
considered. Allowing the user to approve every third party cookie would let cookies that actually
have meaningful uses to be allowed. It doesnt have to be all or nothing, users have options and
they should be able to control the cookies being placed on their computers. The all in and all out

issue would be a problem with option C. This allows the progression of creating information
from these cookies to continue, while still protecting the user unlike option A. Overall this
creates a system where the user is in control, but still allows the growth from the data collected
from cookies to continue.

Works Cited
"Apple." Official Apple Support. Apple Inc, 13 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
"Encyclopedia." Third-party Cookie Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia. PC
Magazine, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
Klein, Matt. "How to Block Third-Party Cookies in Every Web Browser." HowTo Geek
RSS. Matt Klein, 2 Apr. 2016. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
Liu, Yichen. "The Pros and Cons of Cookies: A Google Story." Internet Marketing Inc.
Internet Marketing Inc, 23 Feb. 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
"The Pros And Cons Of 1St And 3Rd Party Cookies". Stayonsearch.com. N. p., 2016.
Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Thompson, Mark,"Third-Party Cookies vs First-Party Cookies." Third-Party Cookies vs
First-Party Cookies Opentracker Analytics. Pentracker, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 20
Nov. 2016.
"Understanding Cookies." Microsoft. Microsoft Corporation, 2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
"Why Aren't Third-Party Cookies Disabled By Default?". Superuser.com. N. p., 2016.

Web. 28 Nov. 2016.